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Articles by Suzanne Lummis
They Write by Night: Noir Takes on Art or Good Times for Dark Times
Noirairians, the whole damn world’s going to hell in a little red wheel barrel. However, noir’s doing O.K., cracking and popping, lurking and stalking. Also, it’s expanding. For the first time, TWBN phones in to another location in LA—a pay phone of course—to reach this episode’s poet, Lois P. Jones, in the booth. The wooden phone booth at Philippe the Original, East Downtown LA.
Nameless in Hell
Nameless in Hell Published December 12, 2025 There's only one TV, an old Philco the size of furniture, circa nineteen fifty-six, that's why it's hell. Blueberries roll over the fields, the terraced hills, and plumeria--the kind they call iced lavender, the kind called cotton candy-- and Cypress lean along the horizon as if scripted by the wind. Beyond the mists he glimpses majestic shapes resembling purple mountains, though he can't recall where he heard that phrase, majesties....?
Gone, Baby
Gone, Baby Published April 4, 2025 O Best Beloved, they're true, those tales come down to us from Way Then. In The Age of Money, the money vanished--overnight it did, as if vacuumed through a funnel into deep space. No one had it, the money. It didn't stew in a bank or go forth and multiply. Buried in the yard of the mad man, it was not, not bent into wads and stuffed in the robber's pocket.
They Write by Night, Enemies Foreign and Domestic
Noir = dark, not the dark of nightfall when Earth turns away from the sun, the dark side of human behavior. Usually, film noir takes on crime at street level, or bank heists and crooked schemes, or, elsewhere, murder plotted behind the facades of well-kept homes. Wife meets lover, together they dispose of husband — or some version of that old tale.
They Write by Night: Darker My Desire
History repeats itself. I don’t know who first said that. Everything old is new again. I forget who said that. Everything that rolls around comes around. Somebody said that… Maybe it’ll come to me. The past never goes outta style. I know who said that. I did. Just now. Anybody out there notice that this They Write by Night thing has a way of mixing the past and present? Take this episode — craven Roy Cohn makes a brief appearance.
Is Climate Change Transforming Literature and Poetry?
Southern California writers have long used distant blazes to create atmosphere. Worsening fires have changed all that. In “Poets on the Beat,” a collaboration between Capital & Main and the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, distinguished California poets provide new perspectives on such topics as climate change, inequality, the immigrant experience and police violence.
TWBN: The Unexpected Noir of Eric Priestley
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They Write by Night: “Bullets”
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"I’m Driving to Fresno (And I don’t care who knows it)", "Noir Confession—with Evasions", and "Noir Stanzas: Pieces of Advice, after Viewing…" - Air/Light
I’m Driving to Fresno (And I don’t care who knows it) The One-Ten to the Five then up Ninety-Nine, Famosa, Dinuba, past silos filled— the signposts swear—with milk, California milk. So much milk! So much green, greens, jewel greens, edibles, wearables, and those ones so new they squeak. They almost squeak out some words.
They Write by Night: Conjugal Bliss and Some Murders
By Suzanne Lummis on May 12, 2021 inFilmPoetrySpotlight It’s not noir exactly — this show’s much too cheerful, and it pre-dates noir — but it’s got some bodies, murdered ones, and a detective to puzzle over them. So, close enough. It’s not a realistic marriage, not exactly, but parts catch the fun of marriage — or, at least the fun parts of a fun marriage. And in The Thin Man nothing’s more fun than solving some murders.
Tali Cohen Shabtai: Two Poems
Selected by Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor By Tali Cohen Shabtai on March 3, 2021 inPoetrySpotlight I am new They don’t know Where I came from I must connect the- leg With the waist And the pelvis to the spine That’s the way when items Are separated from bodies And an artificial Lens is implanted In the – eye. Who said it’s possible to move Organs Away from their Place? Who said?
They Write By Night: The One That Got Away
By Suzanne Lummis on February 24, 2021 in Film, Main Posts, Poetry He wears high-draped pants Stripes are really yellow He wears high-draped pants Stripes are really yellow But when he starts in to love me He is so fine and mellow While listening to Lory Bedikian’s poem, which is about listening — “What It’s Like Listening to Lester Young” — best to have tenor saxophonist Lester Young playing in the background, “Fine and Mellow,” with Billie Holiday doing the vocals.
This Is How I Have Imagined You
Nigerian Voices Today By Bura-Bari Nwilo on February 24, 2021 in Focus, Poetry This Is How I Have Imagined You My love, that you would have long flowing hair with which I can climb out of this crude soaked hole and see daylight like never before. That you would have small but narrow nose and when the flairs suck up my large nostrils, I would build a hope in yours.
Terhi K. Cherry: Two Poems
Selected by Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor By Terhi K. Cherry on February 24, 2021 in Main Posts, Poetry Driving Through Death Valley strange happiness swept over him. Perhaps the angle of the sun cast a shadow off the sand dunes, and he recognized it as his own. Perhaps he got out of the car, wrestled his own body to the ground, tried to beat the truth out of it. Then walked away in surrender, dusted his arms.
Poets on Craft: Đỗ Nguyen Mai and Sokunthary Svay
By Bunkong Tuon on February 24, 2021 in Conversations, Main Posts, Poetry Poets on Craft is a cyberspace for contemporary poets to share their thoughts and ideas on the process of poetry and for students to discover new ways of approaching the writing of poetry. In the face of a pandemic that is both viral and political, it is a resource for strength and creativity, friendship and beauty, love and rejuvenation. It is thus a celebration of the beautiful and eclectic minds of contemporary poets.
Haiku at Filoli - Cultural Weekly
By Cultural Weekly on February 17, 2021 in Poetry the birds in winter arrive like a thunderstorm refreshing and threatening Filoli is known for its flowers, and winter has been thought of as a slower and quieter time. Yet the staff recognized what a special time winter is at Filoli. The bare branches, the grey skies, the just-about-to-blossom magnolias. Beauty in a winter garden is spare, resonating.
Dania Ayah Alkhouli: Two Poems
Selected by Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor By Dania Alkhouli on February 17, 2021 in Poetry S u r v i v o r To have survived and to be a survivor are two very different things. Survived – past tense. An anchoring of expectations: Being done. Okay. Healed. Fine. Moved on. Over it. Never allowed to ache at the ghosts pulsating beneath your scars. Survivor – present tense. An ongoing process: Moving forward instead of moving on. Forgiving, but never forgetting.
Jack Reads "Pronto, Professore"
By Rick Meghiddo on January 20, 2021 inArchitecturePoetrySpotlight Jack Reads Pronto Professore from Rick Meghiddo on Vimeo. January 2021. At the beginning of a new post-pandemic and post-Trump era, we are framed between the barbarian actions on January 6 and a new beginning on January 20. The world’s main agenda needs to focus on healing and growth. Furthermore, we need to reinvent the human condition.
Poets on Craft: Stephen Kampa and Chelsea Woodward
By Bunkong Tuon on January 13, 2021 in Conversations, Poetry, Spotlight Poets on Craft is a cyberspace for contemporary poets to share their thoughts and ideas on the process of poetry and for students to discover new ways of approaching the writing of poetry. In the face of a pandemic that is both viral and political, it is a resource for strength and creativity, friendship and beauty, love and rejuvenation. It is thus a celebration of the beautiful and eclectic minds of contemporary poets.
Peter Neil Carroll: Two Poems
Selected by Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor By Peter Neil Carroll on January 6, 2021 in Main Posts, Poetry Hitchhiker Driving through blue-collar suburbs, I see a thumb shoot up, brake fast, taking her in— light hair, tight jeans, lots of mascara. Stop here, she orders in half-a-mile, pointing to a solitary Chevy parked at an grimy curb. Someone, she claims, has stolen her purse. Doors unlocked, I search for the keys, find none. The trunk is sealed.
They Write by Night, “Trump in Hell” — in this episode’s poem and, elsewhere, in life - Cultural Weekly
By Suzanne Lummis on January 6, 2021 inFilmMain PostsPoetry Noir Now: Power and Corruption Sometimes that “sweet smell of success” might be the scent you follow, follow… hither and — what comes next? oh yeah — thither, and never arrive at its source. Or else you find it, you seize it, it’s yours — everything you ever wanted, but . . . Somehow, it’s not as sweet as you imagined.
Temecula Wineries’ Pandemic Pivot
By R. Daniel Foster on December 9, 2020 in Business, Food, Main Posts Like so many industries, California’s $114 billion wine industry has had to make a pandemic pivot. Not all wine regions are the same – and the Los Angeles-adjacent Temecula Valley region has had unique challenges. Chief among them is Temecula’s reliance on direct wine sales from its 40-plus wineries (the first opened in 1974). The region, about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles, is situated amid numerous metro areas.
Smoke and Fire – Understanding the Dangers - Cultural Weekly
By Our Friends on November 2, 2020 inLifestyle When people talk about smoke and fire dangers, they typically focus on the injuries from intense heat and burns. No doubt, these are essential considerations. However, you need to give the hazardous nature of both smoke and fire equal consideration. Experts argue that most injuries and deaths due to fires are a result of smoke inhalation. In any fire, you’ll find three significant elements – smoke, oxygen depletion in the environment, and heat.
Lena Sarbanes Ehrlich
The Next Gen By Lena Sarbanes Ehrlich on October 31, 2020 in Focus, Literature This story is inspired by Mary Shelley, who you may know as the author of Frankenstein. After her husband Percy died from drowning at age 29, his heart couldn’t be cremated, likely from his having tuberculosis earlier in life. Mary took to carrying it around with her in a silk bag. Creepy huh? Well, read the story!! * A new family is moving into the house next door. Well, I don’t think you could really call it that.
House Engraved - Cultural Weekly
By Hazel Kight Witham on October 31, 2020 in Essay, Focus The plastic ghouls and rope nets, wired spiders in frozen creep, this cemetery of street, this house cobwebbed in gauze of pretend decay, and along front window, the letters of her name, inked and hung with care. One wants to read “Happy Halloween” there, but instead these letters, more ache, more memorial, renders whole house tombstone in predawn grief.
They Write by Night, Invisibility Noir
By Suzanne Lummis on October 21, 2020 in Film, Poetry, Spotlight Invisibility – Pre-code Halloween Noir The not-to-be-missed Halloween episode which mixes dark goings-on in the fantasy world of early “scary” cinema and in the troubling real world, and in which Lummis admits she lied. She lied when she said, several episodes earlier, that this series would be “all noir all the time.” Oh, it is that but So much more.
5 Tips on How to Maintain the Spice of a Relationship During the Pandemic
By Our Friends on September 9, 2020 inHealthLifestyleRelationship Being in a relationship and maintaining one, especially in the trying times, can be very difficult and challenging. It takes a lot of adjustments, taking up a new course, and constant poking of the coal of desirability to keep the heat of the relationship burning. Or else, everything will be stagnant, and your relationship will only end up as a routine.
They Write By Night: Pandemic Noir No. 3, City Gone Missing
By Suzanne Lummis on September 2, 2020 in Film, Poetry, Spotlight Pandemic Noir No. 3, City Gone Missing Businesses disappear, your favorite restaurant (the Cha Cha Cha on Virgil!), or the last remaining news stand in that part of town. People disappear, maybe a rogue husband who’s cleaned out your bank account—the money You earned—and skipped town. Vanished. Happened to a college teacher I knew, back in the day. Species have a way of disappearing.
They Write By Night: Pandemic Noir 2020, Love and Loneliness
By Suzanne Lummis on July 29, 2020 in Film, Main Posts, Poetry Pandemic Noir 2020: Love and Loneliness The poem about the woman who gets seated at a restaurant table across from a manikin; the poem about a man surrounded by a worldwide pandemic, trying to live nine lives all at the same time; the movie that has Lt. Commander Clint Reed, M.D,.
They Write by Night, Season 2, Episode 2
By Suzanne Lummis on June 10, 2020 in Film, Poetry, Spotlight Noir by Birthright Where am I? Not inspecting my bunker. In a rooming house, $27.50 a week, behind some gas station. Guy named Jeff Bailey runs it. What a boring life he has. What’s Not boring? Two things: the times we’re living in, and David St. John’s poem. What a poem. What a ride. Wayne did the pictures, moving ones. This is why they used to call them The Moving Pictures. Then, after a while, they just called them The Pictures.
They Write by Night, Season 2, Episode 1
By Suzanne Lummis on April 15, 2020 in Film, Focus, Poetry The Homme Fatale Joe—no, not that Joe, another Joe—the shoes, no, shoe, the drink—the From-Far-Away drink, from a tree—The Frolic Room (noir or not noir? It’s noir now), the Mamet—yes, that Mamet, the movie, House of Games, the Homme Fatale, the Deception, the Crime, the gun, the bullet, the next bullet, the No Show, the Poem. Sorry I gave it all away—shoulda started with “Spoiler Alert.” Shoulda just said: Season 2, Episode 1.
NIGHT COMMUNION by Tara Skurtu
We met at the revolving hotel door. You’d shaved three weeks of growth while I had three glasses of wine in the lounge—I was too early, I’d gone and come back. You’re late, you said. I touched your cheek, your neck, your Adam’s apple beading from a slip of the blade. Chanting lured us diagonally across the street to the Orthodox evening service. Asters spiraled the pillars. We stood on the steps behind the crowd. A grievous a cappella glow, a special ceremony. Men right beside the women tonight.
LA woman: Los Angeles poet Suzanne Lummis will read in Orcutt
Suzanne Lummis is deeply flattered when someone is aware of her historic career in poetry. Deeply humble yet giddily verbal about her work, in a short amount of time she offers great insight into the world of California poetry. Lummis, along with fellow poet Dan Gerber, is set to appear at CORE Winery’s monthly poetry readings, hosted by author Michael McLaughlin.
Going on Nerve: Lynn Emanuel’s “The Nerve of It: Poems New and Selected”
“WE’RE HEADED for empty-headedness” it begins, but the poems that follow the first one, “Out of Metropolis,” seem to proceed from a head brimming over with perceptions, imaginings, conversations, arguments, sensualities, obsessive pursuits, and total emersions — rivers that branch into tributaries.
No Secrets in the Dressing Room
SOME AUTHORS USE a pseudonym to hide their true identity, but it’s no secret that Renee Patrick is actually a pair of married cinephiles, Vince and Rosemarie Keenan. They both grew up in Queens, New York, but didn’t meet until later in life, at a Florida advertising agency where they bonded over their mutual love of classic films and classic cocktails.
The Surveillance Poems: 1-10
By Ashaki M. Jackson on April 13, 2016 in Poetry Ten poems from Surveillance, the powerful new collection from Ashaki M. Jackson, which Cultural Weekly has been honored to serialized. Over the course of 10 weeks, we were able to feature one poem per week from this book that explores police killings of Blacks captured on video and the public’s consumption of these videos. Book is available here.
Summertime, (Revisited)
The Poems By Gerald Locklin on April 11, 2013 inPoetry Books from Gerald Locklin so far in 2013 include, along with Deep Meanings (Presa Press), a novella trilogy from Spout Hill Press: The Case of the Missing Blue Volkswagon, Come Back, Bear, and Last Tango in Long Beach (available individually from amazon.com), a reprint of Gerald Locklin: New and Selected Poems(2008) from Silver Birch Press, and a single-story e-book The Sun Also Rises in the Desert from Mendicant Bookworks (available on...
Poetry | Portraits of the Artists | Gerald Locklin
The Poems By Gerald Locklin on October 4, 2012 inArtPoetry Books from Gerald Locklin so far in 2013 include, along with Deep Meanings (Presa Press), a novella trilogy from Spout Hill Press: The Case of the Missing Blue Volkswagon, Come Back, Bear, and Last Tango in Long Beach (available individually from amazon.com), a reprint of Gerald Locklin: New and Selected Poems(2008) from Silver Birch Press, and a single-story e-book The Sun Also Rises in the Desert from Mendicant Bookworks (available...
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